ISRAEL scrambled yesterday to defuse the latest row amid deteriorating relations between Tel Aviv and the US White House.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman angrily dismissed allegations which surfaced in the Wall Street Journal that Israel had spied on Iran’s nuclear talks with the US and other major powers.

The report, quoting current and former US officials, claimed that the operation had been designed to infiltrate the talks and help build a case against the emerging terms of a deal.

Besides eavesdropping, Israel obtained information from confidential US briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the officials told the paper.

The report added that the White House was irked by Israel’s sharing of inside information with US Republican politicians in a bid to sap support for a deal intended to limit Iran’s nuclear programme.

“It is one thing for the US and Israel to spy on each other.

“It is another thing for Israel to steal US secrets and play them back to US legislators to undermine US diplomacy,” the newspaper quoted a senior US official as saying.

US intelligence agencies discovered the operation when they intercepted communications between Israeli officials.

These communications carried details the agencies believed could only have come from access to the confidential talks.

Mr Lieberman retorted: “This report is not true.

“Obviously, Israel has security interests to defend and we have our own intelligence.

“But we do not spy on the US. There are enough participants in these negotiations, including Iranians.

“We got our intelligence from other sources, not from the US.”

Relations between the White House and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have never been more strained.

Earlier this month, Mr Netanyahu told the US Congress that a deal being discussed could “pave Iran’s path to the bomb.”

The US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are seeking to reach agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Israel is not a party to the negotiations, although it claims it is particularly threatened by the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran.

by Our Foreign Editor